Tag: ARC Reviews

Posted in Spicy Romance

Prince of the Undying

Posted on by Little Bee

By Karen Kincy

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Let me start out with saying, I was really looking forward to reading this book. I liked the idea of a dark, fantasy romance, around a mercenary and a necromancer. And while that is what you get with Prince of the Undying, it falls really short of the mark. This story was previously released under the name Shadows of Asphodel, and was revised and rewritten with a professional editor. Throughout this book, I felt like there were so many gaps, like something was missing. There would be bits of conversations that went from point A to Point C and skipped over Point B altogether.

I felt Ardis fell flat. There were so many missed opportunities to build upon her character. More history regarding her sword would have been nice. Especially why everyone was so afraid of it, surely it had to be more than just blood magic? Why did her mom need a sword like that? Does this information come in later books since this is book 1? Wendel was nice. Fell flat at times. His erratic decisions seemed to sometimes come out of nowhere. I found myself confused about the bulk of the story. The Archmages seem like the bad guys as much as the Order of Asphodel. Why did everything start to begin with? What era in time is this? It has steampunk vibes, but leaves me confused because it feels like multiple points in time in world history.

The book has a good amount of spice in it. Once they start with the spicy times, it happens quite often. The ending definitely made me feel things and it ends abruptly but not really cliffhangerish, more of a to be continued. Definitely check your triggers, because there are a lot of dark elements. After all this, you are probably wondering why I gave it three stars instead of lower? This is a fairly quick read, at least it feels like it. The story stays fast paced the whole way through. I like when stories are like that sometimes, especially fantasy books. Aside from the parts that seemed to end quickly and like I missed things, the story idea is a good one. It is unique. I know it was revised once, but I think just a little more expansion on some of the things that happen and the characters, and I think it could be a really great book. It holds a lot of promise.

Posted in Spicy Romance

Beastly and Bookish

Posted on by Little Bee

By Catrina Bell

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Beastly & Bookish is one of the three books in the Horned Up for the Holidays series. You can find the other reviews Holidays Ablaze and Holly’s Unjolly Christmas here. It does not matter in the order that you read them, none of them spoil any parts of the stories for the other.

This book has a Beauty and the Beast feel. “Ugly” beastly demon and nerdy, fiery, librarian. They were best friends when they were younger, and then Rom’s family moved away for a business venture. Eventually it brings him back to Winter Bliss. It is a second chance romance for Rom and Noelle. It includes tropes such as forced proximity and one bed. It is a paranormal, Christmas, fantasy romance.

The story was good, it took me a little longer to get through than the other two books. I liked the story fine, and I found myself smiling and feeling genuinely happy for the characters, but something in the book just didn’t connect with me. I still gave it high stars because I want to point out that sometimes I have outside influences that affect my mood when reading, and I feel like this kind of happened here. Their story is really cute, and extremely spicey. My one real irk with it, and I only say this because I point it out every time it happens, is the lack of communication is so frustrating, but I know if they did communicate how they felt, I would probably find it boring. LOL. So just ignore me please. I don’t read a lot of second chance romances, but this one is a spicy hallmark second chance romance you should add to your list.

Posted in Spicy Romance

Contract of the Crown

Posted on by Little Bee

Elle Lacerta

Rating 4 out of 5 stars

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book is the first in a 5 book series that is dark/fantasy romance. For the quick and short of it, Iris is sold off to the Caed kingdom, specifically Roman. In order for her to gain access to the Academy, she has to serve him, in all the ways you can think of. She has daily chores and then “nightly” chores. She is given over to this ruling family to help pay off her father’s gambling debts.

First, I want to start out on the things I was not a fan of. While I get this was a short story, sometimes it was hard to keep up with how much time had passed, or did not pass. There seemed to be a massive jump between the time she is plotting their demise and her in bed with Rowan and the two falling in love with each other. I thought maybe something had gotten cut out or I missed it, but I felt lost during those parts. This is also true in the scene with Alex, and the level of anger Rowan had felt. I was a little confused there to, everything happens so fast. Also, the language used at first was incredibly flowery. I have ADHD and I found myself really struggling to get through the sentences, especially with words that are not entirely common ways to describe things. However, with that said, given the type of fantasy setting this book is referring to, the over descriptive words seems appropriate. It changes a bit throughout the book and is not a problem after that.

I like Iris, though I am a bit confused by her. She is a spitfire, a little bratty, but also really confusing. I am hoping as the story continues through, we will get more backstory on her and Rowan to understand them better. There is plenty of spice, some was fade to black (which is why I thought I missed something, because it is not clearcut fade to black). The scenes are not very long, but still spicy. I like how the BDSM elements are not overbearing. Sometimes the “Doms” in the book are incredibly toxic all around, and even though these Vampires are incredibly toxic, I feel like this is acceptable in fantasy romance novels that include the paranormal.

The book ends on a cliffhanger, but the books are set to release weekly, so if you pick it up, you should not have to wait long 🙂 I look forward to seeing the trajectory of the overall story. At this point, I am not sure where it is going…but I definitely know who the bad guys are!

Posted in Spicy Romance

Silver Bells and Serendipity

Posted on by Little Bee

By Marie Landry

Rating 4 stars out of 5

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Silver Bells and Serendipity falls in 3.5 in a series, however, you do not need to read any of the other books to know what is going on. Some of the FMCs from the first books become friends with the FMC later in this book, but not reading the other books is not detrimental to the story.

This story follows Christmas over 3 years, where FMC and MMC meet the first time, and each subsequent time after. They only ever spend a day with each other, or an evening, and hope to chance an encounter the next year. During the first two encounters, neither character are really at a place in life where a relationship or something more is an option. Book ends in a HEA.

Overall, the story is cute and you root for the MCs the whole way through. I feel that you get to learn more about Sylvie’s year each time then you do Cole, though the POV of the story is through Sylvie. I don’t feel like Mindy’s reasons were good enough for just bolting on their friendship, so I wish there was a bit more to it, especially if it was going to be made a point throughout the story. There is some spice starting in their second meet up. It is not overly spicy, but enough that is enjoyable and it is not fade to black. The story is creative and well written. It is unique, at least to me. I have not read too many books similar along these lines.

Posted in Spicy Romance

Audited by the Anubis

Posted on by Little Bee

By Wendi Gogh

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I want to say, that as far as monster romances go, I am a fan of any that include Anubis. So I was already excited going into this story. This is my first book by this author. I like how the writing is very smooth and everything just kind of blends together. What I mean is, other than the two “villains” of the story, no one really bats an eye about monsters. There is one scene where everyone stares at the Anubis and then goes about their business.

I liked Fern’s character overall. Without giving a spoiler, I figured out the exciting tidbit she learns at the end of the book early on in the book. This story is a very sweet romance. There is some angst, Fern has gone through emotional abuse her entire life at the hands of her mother, and then at the hands of her Ex Husband. I like that Ahnou really helped her see how amazing she actually is. The side characters are equally awesome. Sera is such an awesome BFF, I need her in my life.

The book does have a good amount of spice in it. Spicy scenes start within a couple chapters, after you meet the two main characters. Both characters are “switches”, though it does not go into a lot of detail or BDSM play. I will say the only thing I had a difficult time with is Ahnou’s “member” because I have never heard of a khenen before and I can’t really find a suggestion on google. Because yes, I google these things LOL. While the author uses a lot of descriptions for his “member” I had a hard time following along with it. Other than that, I enjoyed the story overall. It is a quick read. No third act break up, but definitely third act action. Story is HEA.

Posted in Spicy Romance

The Sugarplum Fairy

Posted on by Little Bee

by Piper Collins

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

First, let me say, I love a holiday romcom, and when it is spicy, it is really up my alley. Just briefly, The Sugarplum Fairy centers around the budding romance between Ava and Zac. Ava ups and moves her whole life to a small, picturesque, Christmas type village in Alaska. She meets Zac, literally the only male in the village around her age and available. Obviously the two hit it off. Ava realizes she moved to Alaska during winter incredibly unprepared. Zac is oh so willing to help her out. They get to know each other and they tend to fall fast. Zac took over his grandmother’s bakery, so much of the story follows along this. There is an attempt of a third act breakup, but Ava is stubborn and does not allow it to happen. This story is standalone and HEA.

I like that this book centers around winter and getting ready for holidays. It is such a sweet story. It is an easy read, I read it pretty quickly. I will say, the spicy scenes seemed to end rather quickly. So in my head, reading it, it felt like a couple minutes, but I am thinking, hopefully, maybe a bit longer. Zac was a bit dominating, and I felt it could go a little further to round it out. He is such a sweet guy that it is nice to see him let out that side of him.

Overall, I recommend this story if you are looking for a fun, spicy, holiday romcom!

Posted in Book Reviews

The Broken Darkness

Posted on by Little Bee

By Theresa Braun

4 Stars

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book is a compilation of short horror/paranormal stories. It is not my typical go to. I do like a good short story though, even collections of them, because sometimes they are just what you need in between heavy reads. These were easy reads, though I did find some of them harder to get through then others. I don’t think it is a negative to the book or the author, and more just not my preference. I did read one of the stories already listed in the book several years ago, and I enjoyed that one very much (Dead Over Heels).

Of the new to me stories in the collections, two of them stand out as my favorites. I really enjoyed The Celestial Assignment and Dying for An Invitation. I liked The Celestial Assignment because it gave a dark, harrowed look at how we humans are a lesson for new guardian angels. That the angels themselves might have been horrible people but then when they die, they are given people to guard that is supposed to teach them something. I liked how this story really came full circle with some of the characters in it. I still think about it. I liked Dying for An Invitation because it took a new take on lore we already typically know regarding Transylvania and Vampires, and follows the craziness of family and learning maybe they really weren’t so crazy when it is too late to change your fate.

The stories are too short to really give a description over each one. If you enjoy quick reads and horror at that, this is a good book to pick up. If you are okay with stories not having a happy ending, this is also a good book for you, because I don’t remember any LOL.

Posted in Spicy Romance

Rhage: A Monster Rockstar Romance

Posted on by Little Bee

By R.K. Pierce

4 Stars

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is about a demon band that tours around playing music. Our FMC loves the band and is determined to meet the lead singer Sebastian Alex. Fate works out for her and she scores tickets to the concert in her town and a backstage pass to meet him. When he sees her, it was instalove though he didn’t quite process it to be that, he just knows he wants to feed off of her essence.

This book is the first in a series that will circle around each of the band mates. I am looking forward to reading the rest!

I did think the book took a little too long getting to the point where they meet and there wasn’t much left of the book for their actual relationship, so the last part of the book felt a little rushed. I felt there were still some unanswered questions by the end. The author did add an extra chapter and an epilogue, which I did enjoy as well, but still felt like some information was missing. As far as spice level goes, it was spicy with the few scenes that were given. And let’s just say, if you know you know, but I need one. LOL. I do think it could have had more spice had they been able to meet sooner. I also feel like when she sold her soul, it got a little short changed and could have been a little more grand because she sold her soul.

Other than those few things, I really did enjoy this book. I still have some unanswered questions, but I want to read more. I thought the trope was unique, but maybe it’s unique to me, because I have not read a lot of monster rockstar romances. I will say there may be a possible trigger warning, but overall that scene ends well.